Okay, So Why am I Doing This?

It happens every training cycle, a day or two of exhaustion and the questioning of my sanity.  I enjoy running the vast majority of the time, but with the high miles, warm temps and stifling humidity, you can get a little overwhelmed.  That happened this week on Friday.  I was in the middle of a near-90 mile week and had just completed a 14 mile run that morning.  My right calf was very sore, and I was totally wiped out the rest of the day.  I left work a little early and "napped" from about 3:30 to 7:15.  I had some dinner and was back to bed about 10 and slept until 6:30.  Now that is a lot of sleep, but that and some iron supplement had me functional again for most of Saturday and also for my 21 miles Sunday morning.  Thankfully these mental and physical setbacks are short-lived.  I am happy to report that the calf pain was gone for today's run and even though I didn't run fast, I did manage a very consistent pace from beginning to end, which considering the conditions was a victory.

It also helped that I did a little gear shopping on Saturday.  I had a gift card burning a hole in my pocket, so what better way to pick myself up than with a canary yellow singlet and matching yellow and gray Nike Pegasus.  I'm such a slave to fashion!  Sounds silly, but the new colors seemed to help today!

Lastly, I have some racing to look forward to this week.  I haven't raced since the end of May, so that can be another reason my running my have been getting a bit stale.  Thursday I'm racing the Rice Street Mile, where I hope to break 5:35 and Saturday is the Run for Blood 5K where I am shooting for a 17:59.  Both are a long shot as I will be doing them on tired legs, but then on the flip side, my fitness has never been better.  I just need to be careful and not injure myself. 

Another big mileage week coming up, where I may set a mileage PR of 95 miles.  If the calf and Achilles show any signs of pain I will back off, but that is what is currently on the schedule.  It sounds like we may get a slight break in the weather department, so that will be a welcome relief.

Happy Running!

Rick